Lyle back in the groove

Sandy Lyle has returned from the wilderness and is enjoying an Indian summer as he gets to grips with his own brand of natural golf, writes Alasdair Reid

Sandy Lyle was up to his old tricks last Thursday. Coasting along, swinging and scoring, he was four under par for the first round of the Lancome Trophy when he came to the tee at the seventh, his 16th, the shortest hole on the St Nom La Bretèche course. A decent finish would put him on the leaderboard, and the gentle 160-yard par-three looked as good a place as any to launch that final push.

And this is how he played it. His tee shot flew right, bouncing once before plugging in a bunker. His second shot was a horribly thinned sclaff that shot across the green and dived into a pond. His penalty drop landed in a patch of mud, from where he found water again. Another drop, a decent chip, and a single putt that meant he walked away from the green with a quadruple bogey seven on